Beyond Contact: Codex
by RiptideZ
Summary: This is the information guide to RiptideZ's Beyond Contact, information about factions and information on the Beyond Contact Universe can be found here. This manual will be updated as the story progresses.


**I would also like to mention that cantons are a synonym for state or province.**

_Welcome to RiptideZ's "Codex: Beyond Contact," a non-profit fan-produced fiction product under the ownership of set penname: RiptideZ._

_DISCLAIMER:_

_All copyrighted items mentioned or used in this work belongs to their rightful owners at 343 Industries, Electronic Arts, Microsoft, Bioware, and other brands mentioned below or later under terms of Fair Use. The author only owns their own creations. This author is an adamant supporter of Constructive Criticism, please read and review, be mindful however, this author will delete your comment if it is considered of ill-intent or overstated such as being already stated more than a few times. If anything is wrong with the writing piece, contact RiptideZ through the reviews section, or Instant Messaging."_

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**United Cantons of Earth and Colonies – UCE**

"_For __us__, the storm has passed. The __war__ is over. But let us never forget those who journeyed into the howling dark and did not return. For their decision required courage beyond measure...sacrifice, and unshakable conviction that their fight; our fight, was elsewhere. As we start to rebuild, this hillside will remain barren, a memorial to heroes fallen. They ennobled all of us, and they shall not be forgotten._" – Admiral Lord Terrance Hood (2487 – Present), at the Memorial Event to the Battle of Earth – March 2553

The _United Cantons of Earth and Colonies_, abbreviated as _UCE_, is a human-exclusive faction originating from the Milky Way Galaxy's Orion Arm. The UCE administrates between 50 and 130 worlds including their homeworld, Earth; their population is estimated to be about 16 billion. The UCE houses multiple specialized departments, most notably the UNSC.

[Type of Government – Representative/Parliamentary Democracy]

[Constitution – The UN Charter]

[Head of State – "President" Dr. Ruth Shannon Charet]

[Date of Establishment – 2178 CE]

[Currency – UN Credit]

[Capital – Decentralized across Earth]

[Language – English (Most Spoken), others]

History

The UCE traces its origins as far back to the Human-historical age of the 1900s CE, where nation-states encompassed Humanity's globe. For 4 decades, Humanity waged war upon each other in the greatest global conflicts of the era, only dwarfed by the historical Interplanetary War nearly 2 centuries later and the fresh Human-Covenant War that was waged from 2525 CE to 2553 CE. Following the 4 decades of war and a failed global alliance known as the League of Nations, the United Nations, a globally united federation of nation-states with the goal to establish lasting peace on Earth was formed.

The center of the United Nations, the _United Nations Security Council_, a military council of the winners of the Second Global Conflict simply known as the Second World War governed economic and military affairs for the rest of the world. The 5 nations on this council, the United States of America, Great Britain, France, the Soviet Union, and the Republic of China (Taiwan/Chinese Taipei), were given unrestrained legal power through vetoes that could easily shoot down any legislation. This decision made it difficult for laws to be passed because of alliances between the regional powers. For about 8 decades, the _UNSC_ would make passing legislation impossible, following a major reform. The UNSC council would grow in size from 5 to 15. The UNSC would also be forced to decide on the simple rules of majority to decide vetoes.

The UNSC would eventually become its modern incarnation, recognized by the public by another name, the _United Nations Space Command_ by 2496 CE. Before the Interplanetary War, the UNSC experienced power-swaps between nation-states. The Republic of China, after losing the mainland, was replaced with the People's Republic of China, a strange conversion of Capitalist-economic beliefs and Communist governing strategies. The Soviet Union fell following its bankruptcy from over militarization during its somewhat-peaceful conflict, the Cold War, with the United States of America. It was replaced by the somewhat stable but nonetheless dangerous Russian Federation. Between the years 2020 and 2068, nations were added to the roster including, the former major belligerent losers of World War Two, Germany and Japan, India as the world's largest population center in 2025, and Brazil as the dominate power in South America between 2020 and 2040. Nations with access to growing or stable economies, aircraft carriers as markers of military might, and nuclear weapons as a stage of national development were quickly added to the list as well.

Over the course of the 21st century, terraforming projects were enacted on Mars, the Jovian Moons, Venus, and parts of Earth's moon, Luna. By the 22nd century, the United Nations started to see an influx of old-Earthen ideologies including extreme fascism known as "Frieden Movement" originating from Multinational corporation funds, Islamic and Anarchist extremists from Europe adopting a Neo-Nazi agenda to establish a "Fourth Reich" that would have spanned the Western Hemisphere and Global South on Earth. A resurgence of Stalinist Communism originating from the Jovian moons after adopting the beliefs of Russian-born interplanetary terrorist, Vladimir Koslov, founding the "Koslovics." The surge of ideologies has been a topic of controversial debate, the most supported theory to the uprising of former ideologies may have been the fault of rapid Globalization, the differences in the inferior economies and social orders of impoverished nations of Earth and distant colonies suffering from a form of voluntary mercantilism led to the eruption of old ideologies compared to the developed nations' perceived paradises.

Many national militaries were either absorbed into the neo-Fascist and neo-Communist movements or forced to combat growing separatist movements between allies and even between multi-cultural nationals. In 2160 CE, the Jovian Moons erupted in rebellion starting the Interplanetary War where UN Colonial Advisers were either killed or deported back to Earth. UN international Taskforces were repelled from Jupiter's orbit in the following months of conflict. In 2162 CE, the Koslovics, the Friedens, and the international military alliance made up of American, Canadian, British, Mexican, Brazilian, Argentinean, and other nationals from across the globe fought for the valuable resources of the Amazon Basin, a conflict that was later referred to as the Rainforest Wars. The consequence of the wars would lead to destruction of many unique fauna and cause mass starvation on a global scale. In 2163 CE, Mars got caught up in the conflict which became known as Argye Planitia Campaign where UN forces used blitzkrieg tactics to utterly destroy Koslovic forces and founded the UN Marine Force contingent that would become the Orbital Drop Shock Troopers, a Special Forces unit that was specially trained to deploy from Low Orbit in insertion pods deep into enemy territory.

By 2170 CE, the UN military led by the regional powers of the UN Security Council had defeated the Koslovics and Friedens leading to the formation of the Castillo Treaty of 2170. The treaty's significance established the legitimacy of the United Nations as the single ruling party of the Sol System, led to the establishment of the UNSC as the military arm of the United Nations and led to the eventual reformation of the Earth's nation-states and the colonies into the UCE, circa 2178 CE.

In the spring of 2291 CE, the Sol system was overpopulated with Human life and the Earth's population alone exceeded 10 billion matched by Mars and the Jovian moon colonies. Two astrophysicists, Dr. Tobias Fleming Shaw and Dr. Wallace Fujikawa and a committee of Science's greatest minds, completed the first FTL (faster-than-light) drive developing further and discovering new data in the realm of Universal Physics, the device would become one of the greatest inventions in Human history known as the Shaw-Fujikawa Translight Engine. Using a miniaturized particle smasher to produce a stable wormhole and containment field around the test vessel, a starship had the ability to fold the distance between two locations into a fraction of the time allowing for Intersystem travel between Star Systems. Suddenly, space colonization was applicable and affordable.

By the 26th century, Humanity's space encompassed nearly 800 worlds (not colonies) and 200 colony worlds. The regions would be separated into the Inner Colonies and Earth, and the Outer Colonies. Between 2450 and 2525, Humanity experienced another series of conflicts that redefined warfare, the Insurrections, a number of planetary conflicts between rebellious colonies and the UCE lasted for several decades. The UNSC alongside its Colonial counterpart, the _Colonial Administration Authority_, a department that manage the Outer Colonies that ran its own separate military compared to the UNSC, fought the rebels on multiple worlds until 2525 CE during which the Outer Colonies were subjected to martial law. The _CAA _was created in 2412 CE when the UCE asked for a department to manage the distant colonies in the event that the UNSC was becoming overstressed trying to maintain control over the colonies. The Insurrections ended around the 2530s, ending with the dismantlement and absorption of the CAA by the UNSC for multiple reasons, most notably, corruption.

In 2525 CE, the UNSC made first contact with intelligent life from the stars. The Covenant, a conglomerate of eight different species each separated into a caste under a unifying theocracy, the Covenant was not peaceful and quickly declared a holy war against Humanity following a failed first contact scenario. For 3 decades, Humanity fought a losing battle as the Covenant Juggernaut dug a path into Human space heading for Earth. The centerpiece of the Covenant religion was the worship of a long dead race of advance aliens from 100,000 years ago, referred to as the Forerunners. Any and all artifacts were considered holy relics.

Major battles rippled through the Orion Arm, the most well-known were the Contact at Harvest, Admiral Presten Cole's Final Stand, the Fall of Reach, and the Battle of Earth. The war came to a turning point when the leading caste of aliens, the San 'Shyuum, removed the main warrior caste, the Sangheili, from the Covenant's ranks causing infighting and what became known as the Great Schism of 2552 CE.

The former enemies of Humanity, the Sangheili's alliance, the Covenant Separatists led by the alien Arbiter joined forces with the Humans to fight the Covenant Loyalists the remaining castes of the Covenant. At an ancient expansive Forerunner structure outside the Milky Way Galaxy known as the Ark, the Separatist-Human Coalition defeated the Loyalists and ended the war in the spring of 2553 CE.

To this day, the UNSC and their former Covenant allies are running clean-up operations against the Covenant Loyalist footholds in the Glasslands, a region of the former Outer Colonies where the former Human worlds had their surfaces turned to glass and their atmospheres boiled away. By 2555 CE, the San 'Shyuum had become extinct and their followers dissolved in civil war or unable to reorganize in the face of Human retaliation. The UNSC would hand power back to the UCE following the end of the Human-Covenant War and the deconstruction of emergency government and martial law that had existed for 3 decades. In November of 2553, the UCE elected its first President in more than 20 years.

Military

"_Nam et hominem super terram._" – Motto of the United Nations Security Council following the Castillo Treaty of 2170 CE, Latin for "For Earth and Man."

While the UCE has lasted for around 500 years, its existence has been marred by its defense department, the UNSC. For the entirety of the history of a united species, war has long defined it making historians skeptical to label the UCE as the legitimate government for the majority of the UCE's existence.

The UNSC or United Nations Space Command/United Nations Security Council, is the military wing of the UCE government. They maintain intelligence, security, exploration, and scientific research for the UCE.

[Type of Government – Emergency Government, Defense Department]

[Constitution – UN Charter]

[Head of State – Admiral "Lord" Terrance Jefferson Hood]

[Date of Establishment – 1945 CE]

[Currency – UN Credit]

[Capital – Sydney, Australia (Former: New Alexandria, Reach)]

[Language – English (Most Spoken), others]

Founded in 1945 CE, the UNSC or United Nations Security Council acted as the force appliance factor of the United Nations. The structure of the UNSC was centered on the council of 5 regional powers of Earth at the time, the victors of World War Two. China, Russia, America, Britain, and France.

Reforms in the 2020s and 2030s increased the Council membership roster from 5 to 15 and helped correct the unrestrained power struggle between regional powers. When the Interplanetary War occurred in the 2100s, the United Nations were severely unprepared and were forced to establish long-lasting treaties between former enemies to stabilize the Human population that was greatly divided between the beliefs of radical Socialism, Communism, and the well-established Capitalism systems of recent human history.

The 2170 Treaty of Castillo would be the final peg and death note to the nation-state era in Human history, the Castillo Treaty legitimized the UCE as the government of Humanity, and the UNSC as its ruling military faction. Following decades of urban development in the Sol System, in 2291 CE, UNSC-sponsored scientists, Tobias Shaw and Wallace Fujikawa created the first hypothetical trans-light transportation drive, the Shaw-Fujikawa Translight Drive, more commonly referred to as the Slipspace/Slipstream Drive. For a century and a half, the UNSC under the command of the UCE government, led the drive to establish colonies throughout the Orion Arm.

In 2308 CE, the UNSC decided to make the colony world of Reach its fortress world; its tactically valuable location at 10.5 light years from Earth and being in the center of the Inner Colonies made it a great staging area for reacting to unknown threats and putting down rebellious colonies. The Reach establishment would remain a political fixture between the CAA and UNSC until the Human-Covenant War is it was felt by CAA officials as infringement on the checks and balances of power.

In 2495 CE, the UNSC recognized the name change from United Nations Security Council to the more publically known name, the United Nations Space Command. The Insurrections would force the UNSC to intervene in the CAA's governing campaign and begin a proxy war against multiple rebel factions and cells. The popular belief of the Insurrections is that had the UNSC not intervened at the Far Isle outer colony in 2492 CE, the CAA and UNSC would not have had such a large response with the eruption of radical groups like the New Colonial Alliance, Human Liberation Front, and Eridanus Rebels, etc. The deployment of nuclear weapons on established rebel hideouts by the UNSC Army is what started the Insurrections even if the UNSC was fighting rebels as far back as 10 years earlier. The Insurrections are best shown for the declassified operation of OPERATION: TREBUCHET, where the UNSC deployed several Spartan II fireteams, a full battlegroup including the UNSC carrier _Last Light_; the operation would be considered a pyrrhic victory due to the revival of several rebel cells following the Human-Covenant War in 2553 CE.

In 2525 CE, the UNSC would make contact with Covenant exploration forces in orbit of the primarily agrarian colony world of Harvest. After a failed first contact, the war with the Covenant would last for 3 decades leading to mass genocide, starvation, and destruction of infrastructure. The UCE would lose a majority of its territory and population following the war with a loss of 772 worlds, 113 colonies, and 23 billion people dead. The former Outer and partial Inner Colonies were renamed the Glasslands after the fact that a majority of the worlds claimed by Humanity had their surfaces turned to glass by plasma bombardment and multiple accounts of nuclear winter. For three decades, the UNSC maintained martial law and ousted the President from office to slow the advance of the Covenant War machine. In 2553 CE, the UNSC would revoke power back to the government, however, power would still be centered on the UNSC powerhouse until 2555 CE.

The commander of all UNSC forces, is the British royal descendent, Admiral Lord Terrence J. Hood. Hood served throughout the Insurrections and during the Human-Covenant War and is currently working as Department Head of the UNSC and takes charge of 6 fleets with around 508 ships left in the UNSC arsenal. Currently the 1st Fleet/Home Fleet operates out of Earth, the 6th Fleet/Mars Support Fleet operates at Mars, the 4th Fleet is stationed at Reach as a primary center of recolonization, and the 7th fleet maintains a constant defensive perimeter at the remains of the military planet Onyx where the details remain highly classified. The UNSC 9th and 12th Fleets are on constant deployments between the Inner Colonies, Glasslands, and the Brute controlled space.

Of the UNSC, the most notable figure is the MIA Spartan, Master Chief Petty Officer Sierra-117. He and the faces of Hood, Presten Cole, the other Spartans, John Stride, and James Ackerson are common figures on recruitment papers across UCE space.

The UNSC maintains an active military service consisting of branches: UNSC Navy, UNSC Marines, UNSC Army, UNSC Air Force, and UNSC Spartans.

Colonies

The Colonial Administration Authority is currently a defunct department of the UCE, information pertaining to the CAA is limited. Currently the UNSC takes care of all colonization legislation and maintenance.

The UNSC currently manages about 130 colony worlds and 200 resource worlds.

Warships (dates mark time of first deployments)

Winston Churchill-class Corvette (2532 CE)

John "Strident" Stride-class Escort Frigate (2550 CE)

Aegis-class Shield Vessel (2543 CE)

Yuri Gagarin-class Escort Frigate (2551 CE)

Charon-class Light Frigate (2530 CE)

Paris-class Heavy Frigate (2534 CE)

Stalwart-class Heavy Frigate (2483 CE)

Britannic-class Destroyer Escort (2508 CE)

Demigod-class Destroyer Escort (2541 CE)

Sun Tzu-class Destroyer (2551 CE)

Springfield-class Light Cruiser/Escort Cruiser (2520 CE)

Marathon-class Heavy Cruiser (2515 CE)

Autumn-class Heavy Cruiser (2553 CE)

Valiant-class Battlecruiser (2508 CE)

Phoenix-class Fleet Tender/Assault Ship (2469 CE)

Rebecca Haze-class Assault Ship (2549 CE)

Enterprise-class Carrier (2483 CE)

Haile "Indomitable" Douglas-class Supercarrier (2512 CE)

Infinity-class Technology Demonstrator/Supercarrier (2550 CE)

_ONI vessels and ships-in-development remain classified_

Relations

The UCE has few allies and few dialogues, the only possible ally are found in the Sangheili of Sanghelios, while this relationship is even strained at times.

Following the Human-Covenant War, the UCE's military, culture, and economy was in shambles. The former Covenant castes were doing no better. The Covenant Separatists, reorganized into the _United Keeps of Sanghelios_, known as the _UKS_. The UKS currently is suffering from mass unemployment, starvation, and sickness. Many aliens have immigrated to Human worlds in droves to escape the Sanghelios situation where they now establish unwanted cultural slums. Currently the Arbiter's council of Sangheili shipmasters and keep-masters are mostly cold toward Humans, but are willing to trade technology and resources for economic support and emergency funds to reestablish an age-old culture. Currently, the UKS and UNSC run cooperative operations against the Storm Covenant, a group of rebellious Sangheili radicals led by Jul 'Mdama, and the remains of the Covenant Loyalists led by a loose confederacy of Jirlahanae Warlords.

The UNSC still continues to an open-war policy toward the former Covenant races, the fragmented Jirlahanae-led Covenant Loyalists have slowly begun to be pushed out of the Glasslands and even former Covenant colony worlds on the Sangheili front, the expected endgame for the UCE legislation, a plan agreed loosely with the UKS, has called for a cooperative occupation of the suspected homeworld of the Jirlahanae, Dosiac, and the extermination of all San 'Shyuum, referred to as Prophets, and a possible reestablishment of former client species' governments of the Covenant, including the Grunts, Jackals, and Hunters (referring to the Human-slang terms of former Covenant caste species). This policy is planned to be completed somewhere between 2556 CE and 2564 CE.

**UNSC Character Remarks:**

Master Sergeant Quinn Remy "Sunshine" Silva – MST Silva is everything you want in a soldier, at least in a tactical scenario. He tough as nails, a combat veteran of 14 years and is an able soldier. He's still human though and can still suffer from unhealable wounds to his spirit and mental stability. Psychiatric evaluation has shown a poor mental state. He is registered with Stage Three Post-traumatic stress disorder. PTSD has been noted to come from multiple sources, including a trauma-filled childhood with the moving between 14 different foster homes, an underage drinking issue, and extended time spent around military archetypes when living with military parents out in bases throughout the colonies. He has attempted poorly to cover up his behavioral issues with an overly positive and stupid persona that has become more or less his real self after spending 5 years living a lie, he has no known family and has adopted the nickname Sunshine to reflect his lifestyle. He was nearly discharged in 2552 CE, after he was found mentally unfit for duty. A shortness of troops before the Battle of Earth saved him from being discharged. He has proven himself as a capable soldier but his PTSD makes him highly hazardous toward his fellow soldiers and a wild card in the military. He is still an able soldier and we should use him to his fullest potential. I suggest him for psychiatric reevaluation, extended shore leave, and tracing his behavior when in contact with civilians or when easing back into the private sector.

Sergeant Gary Brooke "Heart" Hartmann – SGT Hartmann is ready to lead his own squad, a veteran under Silva's command and has spent 8 years in the field, he has proven himself as his team's marksman and rifleman. While many soldiers have suffered from PTSD and other mental issues coming out of the war, Hartmann has proven one of the more resilient men to come out of that hellhole. While Gary has been diagnosed with an early case of Stage One PTSD, the signs are only just appearing. Hartmann has proven an excellent marksman and left boot camp at the top of his class. He qualified for Rangers and set a Company record on the Live Combat Test. Given his lack of usage of shore leave and an active interest of xenoarchaeology, Hartmann is a good candidate for recruitment by ONI in the later future.

Sergeant Forest Blake "Raven" Smith – SGT Smith is a quite bookworm for everything he does. He was the graduated high school the top of his class in Chicago on Earth, not discrediting the fact that he grew up in a backwater slum near the Industrial district where his parents worked to maintain military equipment, due to Smith's personality, he managed to fly under the radar of the Chicago street gangs and eventually enlisted via draft. His Ranger status has been a disputed topic among his fellow rifleman, he's a decent soldier and knows how to handle his job. However, he doesn't act like the others and is actively reading books whenever not in combat. His posting on warships has given him excessive free time to indulge in his past time. He nearly failed to make the Ranger qualification test but managed by due to his near perfect written exam average. ONI can expect many things from him, he is vastly talented and if he survives long enough to retire from the military, he could be anything from a desk worker to a politician.

Specialist Duncan Spitzbergen "Fork" York – SPC York is a military man through and through, his brothers and sisters are all in the armed forces, his parents and their parents served during the Insurrections and Interplanetary War. A British-born native of Earth, he grew up a sheltered life even with his family's major military background. He actively volunteered to join the military instead of waiting for the draft to pick him up. He is calm and determined, however he is a new addition to Silva's little band of brothers. He's a greenhorn and has only seen limited combat even if he spent 6 years in active duty. It's very much possible someone up high is rattling the command structure to keep him out of harm's way. At least until the war ended, he has a brother and sister both serving in the Navy as ship captains, a brother in ONI section one, and another sister working as a secretary for an Admiral of the Reach defense fleet. Might want to look into corruption as this isn't the first case I have seen of supposedly coincidental breaks.

**...**


End file.
